Efforts on to bring victims’ kin together against Jaya move

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of three convicts in the case to life term.

Chennai |
Updated: February 20, 2014 4:41 am

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s decision to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has not gone down well with everyone in the state.

Apart from the intended target, the blast had also claimed 15 other lives.

“This decision by the Chief Minister is shocking because she has always been the most ardent critic of the LTTE all along. Now she has done a U-turn and has even set a three-day ultimatum for the Centre. This is political exploitation,” criticised ‘League’ M Mohan. His father ‘League’ Munusamy, a 62-year-old freedom fighter and a member of the now-abolished Legislative Council, was among the dead.

A Congress member and a former insurance employee, Mohan also charged his own party of apathy.

“Even the commutation given to Nalini after Sonia Gandhi wrote to former president K R Narayanan was wrong. She might be able to pardon Nalini, but not us. Why weren’t we consulted?” he said.

Mohan said he was trying to get families of the victims together so they could seek justice in court together.
But not everyone is hopeful. Javid Iqbal, son of T K S Mohammed Iqbal, the superintendent of police who was killed in the blast, said he has lost hope for any justice.

“What can I do? The Supreme Court has commuted the sentence and now the state government has decided to release them. I cannot do anything about it,” he said.

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of three convicts in the case to life term.

Nothing wrong in convicts’ release, says survivor

Sriperumbudur: A maimed survivor of the suicide attack that killed Rajiv Gandhi has said there is nothing wrong in releasing the prisoners as they had undergone punishment for over two decades. “Whether they did the alleged crime or not only the God knows, there is nothing wrong in releasing them now after they were put behind bars for 23 years,” K K Sulaiman, an elderly Congress functionary of Sriperumbudur who was wounded with pellet injuries on the fateful May night of 1991 said. “Also, there are strong allegations that the crimes have not been proved conclusively.” PTI